Young Professionals of Wichita has launched a new website aimed at attracting college students to area internships.

YPW said that it started the website — www.launchwichita.com — to make college students living in and outside of the area aware of job opportunities.

A grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation paid for developing and managing the website.

YPW hopes the site will serve to recruit more young professionals to the area.

In a news release from YPW and the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, YPW said internships improve recruitment and retention. YPW cited a 2009 partnership between it, the Wichita Educational Foundation and Next Generation Consulting that resulted in several studies that found that internships were one of the most effective methods to recruit new employees.

YPW also said based on those studies, 50 percent of internships lead to permanent jobs and the retention rate of college graduates is 30 percent higher after five years of employment among those who served an internship.